NZ Club rugby (general)
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@bovidae said in NZ Club rugby (general):
@Rapido Back when Tokoroa was much bigger in population there were 3 clubs (Tokoroa, HSOB and Pirates) but they amalgamated into SURF in 2001.
This article is 2 years old now but gives some background into the problems they have faced in recent years.
A similar post to my "Back in my day" post in the Auckland thread ...
... the first year I played for Putaruru (1994) there were five South Waikato clubs and all in First Division: Putaruru, Tokoroa, Pirates, THSOB and Mangakino. (Old Boys weren't flash though, and Mangakino struggled but they both regularity put out two teams.)
Edit: and we made top four. (Got cleaned up by Tech and Cueball Mitch in particular in ankle deep cloying mud at Nola Block. Worst ground conditions ever. And I played at Eden and three years at Put. But I digress. My point was meant to be the relative strength of South Waikato footy at the time.)
And Putaruru was the result of s merger (Athletic and I think Marist?) only a few years prior .
The Club at Tirau was called Patetere, but I think was part of Matamata sub union, rather than South Waikato. (But they had folded earlier.)
Think it must be me ...
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@booboo Some of the smaller rural Waikato clubs still exist in the lower grades but many have disappeared due to the urban drift. Paul Koteka is Pirates only AB so a bit of history.
Here is the club draw from today - refer to the Championship and Div 2.
Waikato Club Rugby Draw 3 July 2021
Waikato Club Rugby Draw 3 July 2021 Waikato Draught Premiership Week 7 Hamilton Marist v Otorohanga - Marist Park ...
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@booboo my first year playing seniors putaruru were the beaten finalist in waikato comp .1984. in 1983 pirates were beaten finalist. tokaroa won the nz club tournment a few years earlier. at won stage tok had 3 teams in the waikato top 16. not to sure but pirates lost lots of player in eighties to perth i think most of the kotekas ended up there and i think there were 5 of them.
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@bovidae said in NZ Club rugby (general):
@booboo Some of the smaller rural Waikato clubs still exist in the lower grades but many have disappeared due to the urban drift. Paul Koteka is Pirates only AB so a bit of history.
Here is the club draw from today - refer to the Championship and Div 2.
Waikato Club Rugby Draw 3 July 2021
Waikato Club Rugby Draw 3 July 2021 Waikato Draught Premiership Week 7 Hamilton Marist v Otorohanga - Marist Park ...
amazing that the bottom four in championship are taupiri /frankton/putaruru and te rapa there would be a few club premiership title wins there and a lot of history especially first 3
add in ngaruawahia who dont even exist any more. -
@ploughboy
Looking at one of the books I have, Tokoroa were club champions in 1974. I went to those Ngaruawahia finals in the mid-80s. Fantastic atmosphere. One thing about the Waikato teams of the 1980s were the number of different clubs that were represented. Not anymore.Hautapu first won in 1998 but weren't a successful club until the money poured in.
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My club Te Rapa won their Semi-Finals today in the A and B grades. Played Putaruru in the A game and Taupiri in the B game. Putaruru started short of players, I think they had to make up numbers at their B game played at Frankton. Te Rapa lead most of the game but Putaruru came back and we only won by 1 point. The game finished with an all in brawl with a couple of minutes to go. We may have one or two missing for the finals. Players at this level lose their heads a bit when under pressure and get the red mist and want to fight instead of play rugby.
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Todays results was merely a step toward the semi's next week with the top 4 winning thier matches reasonably comfortably (although MN woulda had squeaky bum moments as they did trail Wellsford 19-21 at one point)
Semis:
(1) Western Sharks v (4) Kamo
(2) Mid Northern v (3) Old Boys Marist
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My club Te Rapa attended the judiciary last night. The win against Putaruru was overturned due to the game finishing early by a few minutes and Putaruru not getting the chance to kick a penalty or use their 15 vs 13 advantage. The other guys will be filthy at the guys that started the fight. The B's are in the final still.
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Semi-final match ups for the Northland Premier and Reserves Comp
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Interesting TJ selection for Norths this week.
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@canes4life Haha, typical club rugby. You these "interesting" selections all the time!
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@stargazer atleast the Wainui coach has enough sense to start PUJ at 13.
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Background on one of the props starting for Takapuna in their semifinal:
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Harbour teamsheets are available here each week:
https://www.sporty.co.nz/nhrugbydrawsandresults#modal
Between the Tonga/Samoa game, and NZ U20, quite a few players are unavailable for their Auckland and Harbour clubs (e.g. Eden are missing their 6 and 8).
Jack Heighton has seen the light and moved from EBC to Takapuna, and starts at 10 with Bryn Gatland on the bench.
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